Bubbles
by UltraM2000
Summary: In a nutshell, Sanzo contemplates life, loss and liquid soap.


This fic is dedicated to Firnheledien, a new Sanzo fan in the ranks. Be entertained, although you've seen the comic version of this Sanzo POV.

**Firn: **I meant it as a spoof just to see Sanzo go all woofly!  
**M2000: **Oops. Ah well.

Disclaimer: I own Saiyuki...Yeah right, and Sanzo really DOES blow soap

**Bubbles**

Sanzo drew a breath, raised the instrument up and blew. A stream of bubbles rose from it, and he dipped the plastic wand back into the small dish of soap solution he held in the other hand. The monk then stepped back and watched them float through the air with a curious calmness. A smile was almost touching his lips.

_Shabon-dama_._ Soap bubbles of every hue, born in a puff of breath from a discontented mouth_.

_Someone said to me once that we live our lives very much like these soap bubbles, floating on a wind we call existence_, s_trong, shining and beautiful to the world_._ To me, however, it is merely an appearance and is all deception._

_Just try to touch, just try to hold them_...

_I reach out_._ The bubble bursts_.

..._And they die in your palm_.

"Nuts..."

_* * * * * * * * * *_

"Nuts! I can't catch them at all!"

Four-year-old Kouryuu stared disconsolately up at the iridescent spheres of soap solution floating through the air. The sound of laughter that soon reached his ears did nothing to help his mood, and he turned towards its source.

"_Mou_..._O-shishou-sama_, you're not supposed to laugh!" The monk blowing the soap bubbles only laughed even harder, much to Kouryuu's irritation.

"Forgive me, Kouryuu, please don't be offended," Koumyou Sanzou said with a beguiling smile as his ward trotted up to him. He put the bottle of bubble mixture down and ruffled the soft blonde hair gently. "Your situation is very much like a sermon my own _shishou_ used to preach." Koumyou paused to blow some more bubbles and gazed silently at them for a while as they floated into the boundless blue. Beautiful. Almost as beautiful as orange paper planes against a celadon sky.

"Your _shishou_?" Kouryuu asked, breaking the silence and stopping in mid-flight towards another hapless soap bubble.

"Mm. Chasing happiness is like trying to catch soap bubbles. Sometimes it works, but one misstep, and..."

Koumyou's weathered hand shot out and closed fiercely around one of his creations. It dissolved with a faint pop, and its remains slid soapily down the Sanzou's armoured wrist.

"You destroy it for others and yourself."

Kouryuu nodded. He didn't quite understand, but it sounded neat anyway.

"You follow me, Kouryuu?"

"Ee. Sort of."

"Glad to hear it." Koumyou smiled serenely once more, eliciting a matching expression from Kouryuu. "Occasionally..." He blew one extra large bubble and shook it off the bamboo wand towards Kouryuu. It drifted on the wind and dipped towards the boy's blonde locks before bursting on his forehead.

"Hey! That tickles!"

"...you must let happiness come to you."

"Blow another one, _shishou_!" Kouryuu laughed, eyes bright. What could the monk do but oblige his bright-eyed, bushy-tailed disciple?

The abbot of the temple, you might have guessed, wouldn't have been pleased to see a senior monk wasting his time blowing bubbles and playing with a fool foundling who reminded one of a silent and lethal daemon.

That is, of course, until you considered the fact that a) _Koumyou_ was the temple abbot, b) _he'd_ picked the foundling up and cared for him, c) this 'daemon' was in fact just in need of acceptance and d) the Bubble Sermon was something pretty deep for a four-year-old to absorb. Time had not been wasted.

If the child did not understand now, maybe he would when he was older. Maybe.

_* * * * * * * * * *_

Sanzo stared silently at the small bubble floating in front of his face. His eyes narrowed angrily.

_There was one happiness I chased too far_, he thought bitterly to himself. He reached his palm out towards the almost crystalline sphere, letting it settle on his fingers.

_And when I did, I destroyed it forever_. His fingers closed into his hand and the bubble met its end within the confines of his lily-white palm. He remained like this for a while before picking up the bubble wand he had dropped.

_O-shishou-sama's theory no longer applies_._ Bubbles resemble not ourselves, not our joys, but the ties that hold us down and the faults that bind us to the physical world_. In three quick, hot breaths, he filled the air full of bubbles of every size and colour. He deliberately broke the wand apart, tossed the fragments down and poured the solution away.

_It appears that they will last forever, strong and captivating_, he thought to himself as he drew a certain silver Smith & Wesson M10 from his robes and aimed.

_But one clear, decisive shot_...

**BANG!**

..._and they disappear_.

A little of the irritation slipped from Sanzo's heart. He aimed once more and pulled the trigger again. And again. And again.

_Destroy all ties to the physical world if you want to achieve enlightenment_._ Own nothing_._ Fear nothing_._ Hold nothing_. _Care for nothing_. _Lose nothing_.

_It is how I live_.

"Sanzo? What are you shooting at?"

The monk twitched upon hearing the familiar, youthful, innocent voice of Son Goku. The one he had pulled out of darkness into light. The one who followed him with that lost puppy look he found irritatingly impossible to ignore. The one tie he had not thrown off...

"You, KONO BAKAZARU!!!" Sanzo yelled suddenly, firing the rest of his bullets in the direction of the voice. The owner yelped in fright and surprise.

'YIKES! Waaah! That's my foot, Sanzo!"

"Why do you think I'm shooting at it?!"

"What's going on, you stupid corrupt monk? I can't bloody sleep with you shooting up the _saru_ like that!"

"Who you calling _saru_, _kono erogappa?!_"

"N'DATOOOO?!"

"Shut up!" Sanzo roared once more, and sent both Gojyo and Goku into a frantic jig to avoid his bullets. It wasn't long before Hakkai appeared at the door, nursing a cup of hot tea.

"Ah, aren't we all nice and cheerful today?" he smiled.

_It is how I hope to always live_...

And as Sanzo spent his crystal bullets shooting at his monkey and his crimson-haired kappa, four soap bubbles escaped his wrath and floated into the beyond.


End file.
